Emergent global patterns of ecosystem structure and function from a mechanistic general ecosystem model.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic activities are causing widespread degradation of ecosystems worldwide, threatening the ecosystem services upon which all human life depends. Improved understanding of this degradation is urgently needed to improve avoidance and mitigation measures. One tool to assist these efforts is predictive models of ecosystem structure and function that are mechanistic: based on fundamental ecological principles. Here we present the first mechanistic General Ecosystem Model (GEM) of ecosystem structure and function that is both global and applies in all terrestrial and marine environments. Functional forms and parameter values were derived from the theoretical and empirical literature where possible. Simulations of the fate of all organisms with body masses between 10 µg and 150,000 kg (

SUBMITTER: Harfoot MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3995663 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature